"Predatory journals and publishers are entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices.” Grudniewicz, Agnes, et al. "Predatory Journals: No Definition, no Defence." Nature (London), vol. 576, no. 7786, 2019, pp. 210-212. See also: Cukier, Samantha, et al. “Checklists to Detect Potential Predatory Biomedical Journals: A Systematic Review.” BMC Medicine, vol. 18, no. 1, 2020, p. 104, doi:10.1186/s12916-020-01566-1
This definition is from the perspective of the sciences, but can be seen as cross-disciplinary.
Other terms are also used:
Some journals may be new or published outside the Euro-American publication world, but may be perfectly legitimate. They might offer quick turn around time, but will they give your work the profile you are looking for?
Be cautious and critical about unsolicited invitations from unfamiliar journals, especially those offering low-cost, quick turnaround publication schedules. These journals make false or vague claims regarding inclusion on indexing and citation metrics sources such as PubMed or Scopus, or attempt to entice submissions with non-transparent author information that might at worst cause your work to be hostage to "withdrawal fees" or other threats to your author rights and ownership. Some predatory journals will mirror the name and website of a legitimate journal but have some tiny difference -- check everything.
Before submitting to an unfamiliar journal, check in with your peers and Penn Libraries subject specialist for an objective assessment of the validity and value of the title. While there are no comprehensive lists of so-called "predatory publishers," exploitative and low quality journals have characteristics in common.
Researchers can also use some of the resources linked in this guide to investigate journal integrity before corresponding or submitting.
Once you've identified potential publication venues, it's time to do some exploration and evaluation work. Consider these for each:
Explore external resources for discovering and evaluating journals, accessing bibliometrics, identifying open source publishers, navigating publisher contracts, safeguarding against predatory publishers, and more. Contact your subject librarian if you need assistance in identifying a journal-matching site suitable to your field, or for any support getting started.
